


Light of my Lief

by WishUponADragon



Series: To Create Is To Submit To The Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Known [2]
Category: Dappervolk (Video Game)
Genre: Slight worldbuilding, canon typical woldhopper amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27073981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishUponADragon/pseuds/WishUponADragon
Summary: Being asked to animate things is not a totally new concept to Alaire, but she's only just met Lief and wants to be very sure she gets it right. After all, the inventor put her heart and soul into making lightbulbs, so she should take just as much care in making something from them.
Series: To Create Is To Submit To The Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Known [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975978
Kudos: 1





	Light of my Lief

The creature wobbled around on its four legs as if it hadn’t been born literally a second ago. A pair of lights pulsed slowly from bright to dim as Bambi studied its surroundings. Alaire sighed. Lief was going to be  _ pissed _ . 

She knew she probably shouldn’t be so worried about it, after all, she’d technically been doing the inventor a favor. But, Lief had wanted to know whether her invention was essentially good and whether it genuinely reflected her, and whatever  _ this _ was, it wasn’t going to be what she wanted. It was nothing like the glowing sparrow she’d seen a different worldhopper going around with, or the lightbulb worm she’d spotted with another. This... this was as energetic and determined as Lief, she could see that already, but it was just so... plain looking.

It was probably Alarie’s fault. She’d spent the time she should have been concentrating on Lief and her lightbulb thing watching her other pets set up camp in the forest outside Aviar Cove. She should have been more focused to guide the design process, but she let her mind wander who even knew where. Obviously somewhere weird. 

Oh well. There were other worldhoppers, Alaire was sure Lief would be able to get a more representative idea of her invention’s true nature from them and their animations. Still, she’d kept her waiting this long, she should probably go ahead and show it to her anyways. 

Alaire watched it gain its footing by stumbling around a few more steps. She whistled once to get its attention. “Here, Bambi.” 

It perked up immediately upon hearing its name and picked its way back to her, lightbulb horns glowing so brightly she worried it might hurt itself. She stroked it gently, which seemed to make it happier. “Nice to meet you. I’m Alaire, I’m gonna take you meet someone pretty cool now, okay? Can you be nice to her for me?”

The thing-  _ a deer _ \- gently butted its head against her outstretched palm. “Okay, awesome, thank you.” It wasn’t far to Lief’s house, and even if it had been, she would have had no trouble finding it. Even in the dim light of dusk it was lit up entirely, with lightbulbs of various shapes and sizes littering the area around it. 

Alaire paused with her closed fist a breath away from the door. She was going to hate it, and how could she possibly let that be this thing’s first hour of life? No, she had to leave, come back in the morning-

Bambi kicked the door and bleated. Whether it had sensed her hesitation or gotten impatient, Alaire didn’t know, and wasn’t given time to ponder because Lief yanked the door open like she’d been camped beside it expecting them.

The inventor gasped and whisked them both inside before Alaire could really process what was happening. “Oh my goodness, it’s so cute!” She cooed happily over the lightbulb deer while Alaire’s eyes adjusted to the brightness inside her home. It was even more well lit than the area outside.

“Oh! You like it, then?” Alaire shielded her eyes a little so she could see Lief flitting around, inspecting Bambi. She measured its horns and prodded at its rope tail and tapped at its hooves. Bambi seemed pleased with the attention, horns glowing to match the rest of Lief’s decor.

Lief’s laugh reminded her of a songbird’s trill. “Of course I like it, silly, I like _ all  _ of the lightbulb pets. The real question is, do you like it? How does this little cutie pie here make  _ you _ feel?”

Alaire sat down, carefully folding her legs underneath herself. She towered over both Lief and Bambi and it was a little uncomfortable. She considered her animation for a moment before answering honestly. “I do like it. I think it’s a very practical pet to have around if I’m going to be travelling at night, since it glows much brighter than my glowshroom rabbit and lantern pixie. And... I just like it. Something about it makes me feel warm and happy.”

Lief was practically glowing herself. “Good! Good. This is excellent feedback, thank you!” She scratched Bambi under the chin. “What’s its name?”

“Bambi. Not sure why, it just seemed to fit.” 

She nodded. “Okay. Cute name. Love it!” She backed away a little. “Okay. Thank you for letting me see Bambi, I know you said you were a little nervous about using your magic. It’s getting kinda dark, but that’s no problem for you now! When people in town ask you where you got Bambi, send them to me, okay? Especially if they’re a worldhopper. I love seeing what you guys make out of my lightbulbs!”

Alaire nodded, straining to keep up with the fast pace of the inventor. “Lief... are you using us as an advertising service?”

The bird girl flushed a deep red. “Well, no, not exactly... but it does kind of work out that way, doesn’t it?”

Alaire snorted. “It’s fine, I don’t mind. Thank you for letting me have one to animate.”

Lief recovered from her embarrassment. “Yeah! No problem! Let me know if you want any more, okay? And if you pick up any nice materials in other towns, okay?”

“Yeah, you got it.” Alaire smiled at her. “I can’t wait to see what you make next.” She patted Bambi’s head. “Your inventions are really something special, Lief.”

She bobbed up and down quickly before calming herself. “Awww, thanks Alaire. I’m just trying to make something useful that’ll make people happy, you know?”

“I know.” Alaire pushed to her feet and scooped Lief up in a hug. “And you did! You made me happy, Lief.”

Lief sunk into the hug, clearly embarrassed again. “Awww...”

Alaire continued. “I was so worried you wouldn’t like Bambi. I guess that was pretty silly, of course you would, but... it just didn’t seem very much like you, or like the other lightbulb creatures. I was worried you’d be disappointed, and think I messed up.”

Lief giggled and pulled out of Alaire’s grip. “Oh, yeah, that is pretty silly. How could you possibly have messed up? I like that Bambi is a little bit like you. If all the lightbulb animations were the same, there wouldn’t be a reason for me to ask  _ every _ worldhopper to animate one! It’s nice to see what you come up with. After all, inventions are only good if other people like them and can find a place in their lives for them. Bambi is a perfect pet because it's your creation, not because it used to be mine.”

Alaire dipped her head, though with the height difference she was unable to hide the pink on her cheeks. “I hadn’t thought about that.” She laughed. “That makes a lot of sense. I’ll make sure to let the other worldhoppers I meet know to visit you.”

Lief punched her lightly on the arm. “Good! You’d better! I want every traveler around to know about my lightbulbs!”


End file.
